Appel’s fast track causing Astros’ clubhouse uproar

In a sport that prides itself on being a meritocracy that requires bonus babies and 30th-round guys to all pay their dues, Mark Appel’s presence at Minute Maid Park on Sunday and his promotion to Class AA Corpus Christi created a stir in the Astros’ clubhouse.

“Unbelievable,” one Astros said. “I’m not in a good mood.”

A few minutes later, another Astro approached a reporter to offer his thoughts while the media waited to speak with farm director Quinton McCracken and manager Bo Porter in the home dugout.

“So now you get rewarded for having an 11 ERA? And you have two guys down there (at Class A Lancaster) with 2 ERAs who can’t get called up?” the Astros player said on the condition of anonymity, alluding to Appel’s ERA and lefthander Josh Hader’s superb season at Lancaster.

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who set up Appel’s bullpen, did not respond to multiple requests to comment on Appel’s visit or his players’ feelings.

Appel, who was given a $6.35 million bonus last year after he was taken first overall in the 2013 draft after his senior season at Stanford, was promoted to Class AA Corpus Christi despite a 2-5 record and 9.74 ERA over 12 starts and 44 1/3 innings. Hader is 9-1 with a 2.46 ERA.

Appel threw his bullpen session under the supervision of Astros pitching coach Brent Strom. Unlike most pitchers, however, he was walked back to the clubhouse through the back of the stadium instead of the dugout entrance, keeping him away from the media.
Without discussing Appel by name, Astros manager Bo Porter was clearly aware about the resentment in his clubhouse before the final game of a three-game series against the Marlins.

“Any time something affects your clubhouse, I think as the manager you have to handle it,” he said. “I will handle it internally. It’s unfortunate that they have been put in that position. But as the manager I will handle it internally.”

Pressed a bit more about baseball’s meritocracy, Porter appeared to at least understand his players’ feelings.

“When you talk about earning a right to be here, I think it’s something again that’s a well known fact in baseball that I think that everyone does everything they can to abide by,” Porter said. “But at the same time I’m not going to speak for the feelings of the people that probably were offended.

“But at the same time I will handle those conversations internally with our players, allow them to speak their minds and I will address it accordingly.”

McCracken, 43, didn’t seem surprised by the outcry. He spent 12 years in the major leagues and remains highly respected around the game because of the way he played and handled himself.
He urges players to not be concerned with which players do or don’t deserve promotions.

“You can’t get caught up in that,” he said. “We’ll relay that to them, and they shouldn’t get caught up in that. And the same applies to our big leaguers. They need to focus on the job at hand, which is coming out here and helping us win games.

“Getting caught up with what a minor league player does shouldn’t affect them. They’re professionals. They’re getting paid handsomely to do a job and we expect them to go out there and do a job.”